Migrants and refugees who manage to reach France by air or sea "could find themselves subject to consecutive forms of deprivation of their freedom," according to a recent report by the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). The NGO network says the phenomenon has been growing in some parts of the country since the start of the year, with would-be asylum seekers held in police detention before being admitted to France and then issued with an administrative detention order pending expulsion.

Limited procedural guarantees

The report, which stems from a mission carried out by ECRE from April 23-27, found that initial asylum-seeking procedures "take place under limited procedural guarantees: remote interviews in all the waiting areas except for Roissy, poor legal assistance due to capacity limits of lawyers and NGOs, and a controversial evaluation of the credibility and relevance of the facts presented by the asylum seeker." These obstacles "can make access to asylum difficult, if not ineffective," the ECRE report found.

According to official data 26.6 percent of applications to enter France had a positive outcome in 2017 and 21.7 percent in the first quarter of 2018, showing that "most asylum requests made at the border are rejected during border procedures."

Arbitrary detention at land borders

The organization reports that people arriving at the Italy-France land border "are subject to arbitrary detention in temporary structures and are unable to access asylum procedures in France, in clear violation of the guarantees set out in the Dublin III Regulation and asylum law." A recent survey by the prisons ombudsman confirms "a persistent practice of detention in sub-standard conditions and the refusal to take asylum requests from those asking for protection." ECRE calls on the French authorities to "refrain from the consecutive application of different detention regimes" on people who have been denied access to the country.